Something About Us
by Mariel Nightstalker
Summary: A rainy day and a meeting at an apartment rented for that purpose. An argument and a resolution. SLASH Harry/Draco WARNING: Infidelity.


A/N: Title and inspiration are taken from the song by Daft Punk. I suggest listening to it because it is fucking lovely.

**Something About Us**

Rain pattered on the sidewalks and slid slippery off roofs. Pedestrians hurried along, huddled together under umbrellas or ran with newspapers or handbags over their heads. Streetlamps glowed yellow as egg yolks in the gloom, their light only dimly standing out in the gray gloom.

A man walked along slower than the others, a navy umbrella and long coat protecting him from the droplets. He seemed unconcerned by the weather, a soft little smile hovering about his lips. He wasn't a young man but he wasn't an old one either, and he looked younger still when something he thought of made him flash his teeth at no one.

He went down a little side street, through a door, and stepped into a courtyard. There was the slip of a key into a lock, a flight of stairs, and then the man stood in front of a door. It was apartment number four. The door unlocked when he touched the handle and opened silently.

Inside it was simply furnished, as though it was a showroom and not someone's home.

His umbrella was furled, deposited into the convenient stand, and then the man sans coat and shoes padded into the kitchen. Glass clinked as the neck of a wine bottle touched the rim of his glass.

Draco rounded the corner from the bedroom into the kitchen. Harry looked up from his wine, saw Draco, and got another glass.

"I didn't know you were here."

"My health is still…I needed some sleep."

Harry nodded and handed him the glass, "Cheers."

"Cheers."

They drank. Draco went to the living area and Harry followed. They sat on the sofa and drank in silence, listening to the sound of the rain tapping against the window and the shivering of the wind. Harry silently reached over and laid his hand on Draco's. Draco curled his fingers around Harry's and smiled without looking away from the window.

"It's been a while now, hasn't it?"

"Mm."

Harry sipped his wine. He tried very hard to keep his mouth shut, but the devil entered into him and he asked, "Why didn't you tell me you were going away? You were gone for three months."

Draco shrugged, "I didn't know I had to tell you where I go or what I do. It's not like you're my _wife."_

The words hit home. Harry clenched his teeth, drawing in his breath sharply. "And whose fault is that? Hm? I told you that all you have to do is say the word and I'll leave her. Just ask me and I will."

Draco rounded on him, "I shouldn't have to ask! Fucking hell, you act as though you're the only married one here."

Harry stood up and stalked into the kitchen without answering. He poured and consumed another glass of wine rapidly. Draco joined him several tense minutes later, his lip between his teeth. He took one look at Harry's face and sighed.

"I don't want to fight with you, Harry. Come on, let's forget about it."

He came over and put his chin on Harry's shoulder, smiling at him. Harry wouldn't have forgiven him if he hadn't noticed the little nervous quivers at the corners of his eyes. He put his arms around him, moving him so that he could put his head on top of Draco's.

Draco exhaled hard against his neck as though coming to a decision. In a softer voice than he usually used, he said, "I miss you when you're gone. I wish we could just be this way, together, all the time."

"We can be."

"No. I don't think so."

Harry would have argued, but they had already decided not to fight about it anymore today. They drank some more and chatted comfortably about Draco's bizarre Pureblood relations in France, the one's he'd just been visiting and the same ones that fed him the shellfish that had him bedridden for most of a month.

Slowly they began to relax. It always took longer when they had been apart for a while. Old habits die hard, and new ones pale beside the shadows of the past.

Finally the bottle of wine was empty and they sat close by like the lovers they were, Harry with his head on Draco's chest and Draco with his arms around his shoulders, fingers smoothing through his graying temples.

It'd started almost by mistake, this affair of theirs. Draco had never been happily married like Harry used to be; Harry was not his first dirty little secret. The others had only been patches on a fraying garment, though; temporary solutions to his lifelong loneliness.

Then there had been a chance meeting at some boring function or other. He half-expected to get into a fistfight with the ex-hero, but instead found himself having a pleasant (and civil!) conversation instead. Harry had just fathered the third of his children at the time and the glow of parenthood suited him. He looked happy and Draco found himself jealous of that happiness.

They seemed to run into each other all the time after that. The Wizarding community wasn't large, but somehow they had managed to avoid each other until then. He found himself genuinely liking Harry. Harry made him feel less frigid inside.

One night Harry told him that he couldn't spend time with him anymore. Outraged, he asked why, only to find out that Ginny had been furious to know that Harry was friendly with their old enemy. Harry shrugged and said that he had three young children and couldn't afford to create unnecessary strife.

Draco said he understood, that he had a son himself and tried to keep the peace at home for his sake. Harry had smiled sadly and that was the end of their contact for almost ten years.

Harry moved, drawing him out of the past. His eyes were quiet in the gray light.

"Do you want to…?"

"Yes."

When they next met, it was at the graduation of Harry's oldest child from Hogwarts. As their most faithful donor, Draco was always invited to their graduation ceremonies. He wouldn't have bothered to show up if their feasts weren't so delicious. They were seated on opposite sides of the Great Hall but directly across from each other. Ginny was beside Harry and her eyes could've ignited a rainforest with the amount of hatred she beamed at him.

Harry smiled at him when his wife wasn't looking and mouthed, "How are you?"

Draco shrugged, not wanting to say how miserable things had been for him lately. Daphne had found out about his indiscretions (not that he made much effort to conceal them in the first place. It wasn't his fault she was as observant as a cow) and threatened to divorce him and take away Scorpius. Draco freely admitted that he wasn't the best parent, but he loved his son and he knew his son needed him there to balance out Daphne's tendency to smother. He placated her by saying that the affairs would stop. That had been last year, and he was ready to commit suicide. With no one to distract him, he was forced to confront the utter meaninglessness of his life. Other than his son, he didn't have anyone that he honestly cared about.

Well, he cared about Harry, but he wasn't ready to think about that.

By some twist of luck they went to the loo at the same time. Harry immediately noticed that something was wrong from their closer position and before Draco knew what he was doing, the whole sordid story had poured out of him. Harry confessed that Ginny was slowly driving him mad. He wasn't the same person he was at school, but she hadn't changed a bit. She was still just as jealous and unforgiving as she had been as a girl, and it was starting to hurt their friendship with Ron and Hermione.

Harry asked if he'd like to go out for drinks the next time he needed someone to talk to. Draco said yes.

Neither of them drank very much, but both made out that they were drunker than they really were. And Draco's hands found their way into Harry's and then the rest of his body committed mutiny. All of his pent-up passion spilled out onto the unsuspecting ex-hero's lap. Harry didn't seem to mind until the next morning when sanity returned to both of them.

They tried to fight it. They really did. But sometimes things are just meant to be. It was the first time Draco actually felt guilty about lying to Daphne. And there were days when Harry told him that it was over, only to come back the next day and say that he didn't know how to live without him.

Harry's relationship with Ginny continued to putrefy. Draco urged him to leave her, end things before they got any worse, but Harry wouldn't unless Draco left Daphne.

It had been six years since they started sleeping together. Harry's youngest son, Albus, was finished up his last year at Hogwarts and already had a scholarship to one of the new Universities. As far as Draco was concerned, it was the perfect time for Harry to leave Ginny. But Harry still wouldn't. He didn't understand that Draco couldn't leave Daphne. Since finding out about his affairs she'd begun to worm her way so deeply into his finances that any break with her would crumble the empire his family had spent the past three hundred years building.

Sweaty and satisfied, they lay tangled together in the bed that felt more like theirs than any other. Harry touched his cheek, drawing Draco's mind from where it'd been wandering.

"I'm not asking for some great romance. Just be with me."

He rolled over onto his side and tried to sleep. He could feel Harry looking at his back and then his fingers stroked his shoulders. He drifted off into sleep.

Harry woke Draco the next morning. At first he stared at Harry like a puzzled child, and then he held out his arms. Harry held him without speaking. Draco knew he was still upset about his lack of response last night.

Was it worth it, being apart, for something his ancestors had made?

"What is it about you that keeps me coming back?" he muttered, sounding less resentful than he meant to. Harry smirked.

"There's just something about us."

Draco filed for divorce from Daphne as soon as he went home that afternoon. He was tired of waiting. Harry copied the next day, a coincidence that had the gossip columns talking.

~000~

End Something About Us

Just a concept piece, I guess. Review and tell me what you thought (if you like).


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